Discovering SubText

When we write characters, most of us know it's important for them to say more than "Good Morning", "How are you", and those types of things. Meaningless phrases of etiquette aren't necessary and are usually boring, unless they have an underlying reason.



Subtext is a fascinating way to use dialogue. I actually just saw it used in a brilliant way at the end of a movie. That's for my next post.



Today I'm in Orlando, attending a writer thing to learn writerly stuff from some authors. I'm very excited, especially since one author is teaching about characterization, a personal nemesis of mine.



If you have time, click on that link for subtext and read about it. Have you seen it employed recently? In what and how? Did you find it effective?

Comments

Angie Ledbetter said…
Hope your conference is a great one! Going check out the linkage now.
Kristen Painter said…
I love subtext, although I don't always use it. I do when I can. And hey, you're only an hour away from me! Have fun at the conference and learn a lot!
Have fun, and good work, at the conference! ...I'll check out that link...thank you.
Rita Gerlach said…
Have a great time at the conference. And please share with us what you learned.

Subtext --- I use it quite a lot. It adds mystic to the writing.
Nancy J. Parra said…
I love your description of the conference...:)

Have fun.
I'd love to go to a solid one-day conference. I should check the listings to see if there are any in my area. Have fun!

Blessings,
Susan :)
Anonymous said…
Great links, Jessie! And it was so cool to brush up on subtext, and then go back in my WIP and actually be able to find a few places where I applied it properly, heh. Few and far between, I'll tell ya.

Anyway, you'll have to tell us about your mini-conference experience later! :-)
Anonymous said…
Great links, Jessie! And it was so cool to brush up on subtext, and then go back in my WIP and actually be able to find a few places where I applied it properly, heh. Few and far between, I'll tell ya.

Anyway, you'll have to tell us about your mini-conference experience later! :-)
Anonymous said…
Well, the verification dealio messed me around and made me post the same comment twice. So, I decided to post one last time, because three times is a charm!

Consider your blog charmed. Snort.
Jessica Nelson said…
Thanks Angie! I guess it was more like a meeting with teaching, but it was wonderful.
Jessica Nelson said…
It's a nifty device, right? I probably don't use it as much as I should either.
Weird. Only an hour away. LOL Someday I'm sure we'll meet. :-) Have a great weekend Kristen.
Jessica Nelson said…
It's a nifty device, right? I probably don't use it as much as I should either.
Weird. Only an hour away. LOL Someday I'm sure we'll meet. :-) Have a great weekend Kristen.
Jessica Nelson said…
Thanks for stopping by, Kathryn! I had a great time at the meeting and learned tons. :-)
Jessica Nelson said…
Rita, I agree. Subtext allows the reader to draw their own conclusions and I think it even heightens the emotion in the reader.
Jessica Nelson said…
Hey Susan, I thought it would be like a mini-conference but it was more of a meeting. Are you a member of ACFW? I'll bet they have something in your area. It was wonderful and I highly recommend stuff like this.
Jessica Nelson said…
Now it's double charmed. Hehee. My comment posted twice too. Huh. So you actually went and brushed up your subtext? Very cool! Thanks for "charming" my blog. :-)
Danica Favorite said…
Enjoy the conference! Subtext is fun.
Hope the conference proves useful for you, Jessica.

I like how the example for dialogue uses action/reaction to reveal the subtext. Great way of characterizing!
Jessica Nelson said…
Thanks Eileen! :-) The meeting was a lot of fun.

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